Crockern Tor & the Ancient Stannary Parliament

Crockern Tor and the Ancient Stannary Parliament

Ref: DPS-CKTORCDA

Supplied by Dartmoor Press.

This forgotten classic by Dartmoor's most renowned author, first written as a long series of articles for the Western Antiquary in 1889-1892, and never before published in any other format, is the first, and only, of that author's works to be made available on a CD.

The title which was chosen for the articles is very misleading. For the long text covers a great deal more than is implied by it, the author conducting his readers on a tour along many of Dartmoor's river systems, drawing their attention to interesting features and objects along their courses, not all of which were in any way connected with tin-streaming or the stannaries, the principal subjects of the work. Indeed, it is somewhat surprising how far from Crockern Tor the author led the followers of his articles!

The Western Antiquary articles contained no accompanying photographs or illustrations. But on the CD the original text is complimented by eighty modern day photographs illustrating a number of the artefacts, localities and features to which reference is made, scenes and objects which in many instances have hardly changed in the century or so which has elapsed since William Crossing penned his words. Indeed, such is the timeless nature of the landscape over which the author led his readers in his Crockern Tor articles, that most of the scenes portrayed by the modern images would still be instantly recognisable by that author.

Indeed, over a century after the articles were written, little has changed in the wilderness regions of Dartmoor, and some of the photos selected for inclusion on the CD will hopefully convey something of the timelessness of the landscape and features of high Dartmoor.

Hopefully present day Dartmoor enthusiasts, and those interested in the long mining history of the region, will enjoy this CD, which will enable them to embark on an exploration of parts of the high moor in the company of Dartmoor's most renowned author.

By William Crossing.

Crockern Tor And The Ancient Stannary Parliament includes an auto run (self start) program, professionally designed and programmed by Peter Thornhill of the Garden Shed Multi-Media Studio in Buckfastleigh.

You do not need to install any viewing software from the CD. The CD will operate on slower (older) systems: it will just be slower! It will also operate with other web browsing software packages, eg. Netscape.